Guillaume Cottin

Ok. So you can't stack them. What if the filters are right against each other, like you can do with double filter holders on some Arri matteboxes? I heard of the Mitomo filters. I couldn't find any online though. There a video somewhere on Vimeo where the Firecrests are tested on a Dragon. Can't find the link... From memory it looks very impressive, no cast at all. But it wasn't the standard OLPF.

IRND filters should really be called IRD because they are not Neutral at all. Someone correct me if I am wrong, but if you are using a "hot mirror" type of IR filtration, theoretically you could stack them, because the wavelenthgs already have been filtered at the first stage. If you are using dye-based IR filtration such as the Tiffen T1, there will be a more noticeable color shift. But in real life, no filter is perfect and there will be color shifts with both anyway. What about having a hot mirror or T1 filter and regular NDs behind it? Wouldn't that work better than stacking IRNDs. The best ND filters IMO are the Formatt Firecrest. I don't know how they react to stacking, but they are so neutral that it should probably be fine.

Hi there Most of the topic has been covered by Guy. If I may put my grain of salt, just a few humble tips from my limited experience. First of all, on a low-budget film, filming in and around cars usually takes more time than expected simply because of the logistics of driving a car around, and continuity. Rocco scrim or ND on windows, solids on windshield and around the car (216 also works on the sides) work great. A polarizer on your camera and on the windows would allow you to expose the windows and the interior separately… but that is super expensive. However, again, maybe it fits your budgets: car windows aren't such a big surface and this car is your only set. If you can, ask that the car has beige or grey seats, not black. You'll get that ¼ stop more inside the car and you'll lose less detail, especially at night. You'll be seeing these seats a lot. You can also ask for a sunroof or a glass roof (certain cars have that). This gives you opportunities to toplight. The second big question is: do you really want your actors to drive themselves? A process trailer will give you more framing opportunities as well as safety, repeatability, and freedom for the actors. You can have the director and crew much closer. It is just so much better. Even if this is low budget, again in your case your whole film takes place in a car, it is your only set, so it would be money well spent. The DIY trailers Guy showed make the car look like it is very, very high from the ground. You will barely see any following cars. This is why a purpose-built process trailer is very low. Now, lighting. If you want to light from the interior: I like the LED blankets from Aladin and Rosco, also check out Litegear, and SoftLights also makes small LED fixtures. If you have a process trailer, you will likely have enough juice to have a few Kinos or HMIs going on. LED-wise, check out Creamsource and Cineo. Also, for night scenes, I would probably use some DMX RGB LED theatrical light strips on each side of the car to emulate moving lights. Ah, and windows give some green. Have some plus/minusgreen ready to compensate either way. Hope this helps?

I really like the rough look, it has a dirty feel to it that seems very well suited to the subject matter. Embracing the digital grain works great. It is a perfect use case of the A7S.

The idea isn't mine. Video MTL in Montreal has lockers. Many other rental companies also do. Call your local one and ask!

I'd say invest in the IT, rental management, website (on-line ordering), and flexible and included insurance. Let people have automatic online quotes and for those who often rent can have an online account with a pre-determined discount. Also an automatic discount, the more you rent the bigger the discount. Let them pickup equipment 24/7 using lockers. Have a very clean website where all the items have an accurate picture and description, and you can order them with options (scrims, 2nd header, types of lamps or ballasts, etc...). And then a smartphone app that links to your website, and a pre-registered credit card so the gaffers can create pick lists on set and just crate an order in one click which is automatically sent to the PM and also exports a very readable PDF. Do not just rent equipment, make people's lives easier.

Yeah but... if you rent the cheaper versions of these lights expect no support from vendors, no spare parts, frequent defective units, or units that break during production (but the evil part is... you can charge for that hahahah!!!), lots of problems. These lights are meant to be owned by a person, whereas rental gear gets used and abused... there's a good reason why rental companies stay away from these sub-standard products. I am not saying the Arri and Kinoflo are not overpriced. But on the long term, what's really more expensive?

Just make sure you really know what it means to work in an office job before you commit to one on the long term. It's harder than it looks. You could try to work as an in-house cameraman for a TV station or as a prep technician at a rental house, at least you won't be sitting all day in an office.

RentalWorks?

Hi there, I once shot a music video on Europe's largest sand dune. It took an entire week... We had 45 mph winds and storms. Optical flat filter and a rain cover for the camera. Change mags off the beach, and lenses without facing the wind or the sea. As Michael said, the wheels of the camera cart can be supersized, if possible (I think they're simply called "Sand Wheels"). Production may lay down mesh wire on the ground in certain areas to allow cars and regular carts to be wheeled around. If there is wind, make sure that the tents or trucks entrances are against it, so the sand doesn't get in. Ask the grips to bring "wind breakers", they look like California Sunbounce reflectors but have a pattern that reduces wind (especially if you have steadicam). As you see, lots of measures against wind because in my experience wind+sand is a death combo.

At these settings, your DoF is half an inch. 50% miss is expected (and even a good result I think!) given the conditions and depending on the movement of the actor of course. I don't know any trick except the usual: practice and muscle memory. And what Stuart said. Did you have a cinetape ?

I think the DP7 is on its way to be the next standard on-camera monitor.

I own a TVLogic which is now outdated. A year or two ago I would have said TVLogic was ahead of SmallHD but they have caught up and now the choice is more difficult. I like the DP7 which has great features (Look-up tables etc...).

Oh, so China silk is real silk ?

You absolutely have to use a point source with such a light to get the crisp patterns.

Hi John, Artificial silk is a bit more resistant and very often what we call just "silk" is, in fact, artificial silk. Actually, I don't recall ever seeing real silk for large frames. The light for this photo shoot is shadowless. I could see a foam core reflector and the large white surface is used as a background. The lighting in this video is too flat for my taste, but maybe in the actual pictures the lighting is done by the strobes so it can be completely different than what you see on the video! It is not very complicated to get such a soft light. Find a very large white surface, really as large as possible (it can be a reflector, silk, a wall, ceiling or whatever) and either bounce or shoot a light though it! Silk is not the softest diffusion material, I would try full grid cloth or double diffusion. Personally I would probably bounce a quite powerful open-face or PAR into some bleached muslin.

TVLogic, SmallHD DP7 or AC7 are priced to own. Rainbow HD for cine tape and other accessories integration. If you are on a budget try Ikan. My 2 cents!

You could use a Thunderbolt Raid storage in JBOD mode to do this. http://www.sonnettech.com/product/thunderbolt/index.html http://store.apple.com/us/product/HE154VC/A/promise-pegasus2-r8-24tb-8-by-3tb-thunderbolt-2-raid-system http://www.pc-pitstop.com/sata_port_multipliers/scsat10pm.asp I don't know of a 10-bay Thunderbolt external enclosure.

Your website seems to be down...?

Any idea what shutter angle they were using in the thirties when they were shooting 18-20 fps? was it already 180°?

January 2015... this will give you plenty of time to do tests. I'll share the results of my shoot but as it turns out, do not underestimate the cost (and time) of developing B&W S16 mm. It is higher than color stock because demand is very rare. There are only a few labs who can do it properly, especially if you want to do some funny things like stand processing. And they need to run a batch just for you, or develop your film at the end of a standard color processing batch (I don't know about developing a b&w film in a color process, but it can be done and apparently gives good results (?)). This cost and time issue also makes tests more difficult, but again you have plenty of time.

Sorry, I meant the Charlie Chaplin from his early United Artists period. "The Gold Rush", mid-twenties. Oh and yes this is a period piece.

The references are the early work of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton, and The Jazz Singer as far as lighting. I think I'll go for the Orwo N74 stock, which seems to look a bit better than 7222, and is faster as well (400 EI). I'll expose it at ISO 250, do a 2/3 stop pull and stand processing to keep grain under control and lower contrast a little. It's the first time I'm asking for a stand processing, if there's someone familiar with this technique, i'd be glad to hear more!

True, it's not that grainy. Plus they were using 35mm and I'll be using 16mm, so I'm not looking for grain as there will be enough of it anyway. On the contrary, I may ask the lab for a stand development.

Hello everyone, I'll be shooting a short film this month, for which I need to emulate the look of an early b&w silent film. It is a bold look but has to be watcheable as the entire movie is shot this way. I'll be shooting on Super 16, and was considering a couple options regarding film stock and processing: - Shooting black and white directly on 7222 stock, exposing normally. I like the idea, the stock is naturally grainy, but the dynamic range is quite limited. - Shooting 200T 7213, under-exposing the neg and then push-processing by one stop. Black and white would be done in post. It is risky, as the image is probably going to be grainy, high-contrast and the blacks will be muddy ; but I was thinking all of this would help "sell" the look. - Shooting 500T 7219, over-exposing 2/3 stop and then pull-processing. Black and white done in color grading as well. I like the idea of keeping color information to grading, and this looks like the safest option to me. As far as lenses and diffusion is concerned, it will be a series of old superspeeds, which I will be diffusing with something like a Glimmerglass or a black soft net. I know I should shoot tests, and I will. But I'd be glad to hear your opinions and if you think there's an obviously better option. Thanks ! G.C.